IRCT REGIONAL REPORT 2016 Notes and References Figures compiled by the European Union Statistics Agency, Eurostat. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Asylum_statistics 1 Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, entered into force 23 March 1976. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/ pages/ccpr.aspx; Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), entered into force 26 June 198. Available at http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx; and Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 18 Heeren M., Mueller J., et al. Mental health of asylum-seekers: a cross-sectional study of psychiatric disorders. BMC Psychiatry. 2012; 12:114 2 In a study carried out in 2005 on the mental health of Cambodian refugees who had resettled in the USA, 54% of the respondents reported torture. See Marshall G N. Schell T L. etc., cited in Carswell K., Blackburn P., Barker C. The relationship between trauma, post-migration problems and the psychological wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers. International Journal of Social Psychiatry. 2011 Mar; 57(2):107-19 3 In September 2015, the European Commission brought forth infringement procedures against 18 Member States for failing to properly transpose the Asylum Procedures Directive and 19 Member States for failing to transpose the Reception Conditions Directive . The Commission adopted a further two infringement decisions against Malta and Greece in December 2015 for failing to communicate the transposition of the two Directives . The Commission also brought forth an infringement decision against Hungary for the incompatibility of the recent asylum law with the Asylum Procedures Directive . On the 10th of February 2016, the European Commission escalated infringement procedures against Slovenia and Estonia for the Asylum Procedures Directive and against Germany for both the Asylum Procedures Directive and the Reception Conditions Directive. Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR), entered into force 23 September 1953. Available at http://www.echr.coe.int/Documents/Convention_ENG.pdf; Article 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, entered into force 18 December 200. Available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/charter/pdf/ text_en.pdf 19 4 http://www.dagenssamhalle.se/debatt/flyktingar-maste-kunna-fa-traumavard-i-hela-landet-18732 Article 33 of the UN Refugee Convention: Prohibition of expulsion or return (”Refoulement”); Article 3 of the UNCAT: “No State Party shall expel, return (“refouler”) or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.” 20 See Soering v. United Kingdom, Cruz Varas and Others v. Sweden, Vilvarajah and Others v. United Kingdom, Chahal v. United Kingdom 21 22 UN Committee against Torture. General Comment No. 3: Implementation of Article 14 by State parties. 13 December 2012. Paragraphs 11 and 22. Available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cat/docs/GC/CAT-C-GC-3_en.pdf 5 Asylum seekers in Austria have access to the labour market 3 months after the submission of their asylum claims, pending a labour market test. 6 See also, Asylum and Information Database, Navigating the Maze: Structural Barriers to Accessing Protection in Austria. (pgs 19-20) December 2015. 23 Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection (recast), entered into force 21 July 2015. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0032&from=en Directive 2013/33/EU on laying down standards for the reception of applicants for international protection (recast), entered into force 21 July 2015. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013L0033&from=EN 7 24 Parcours d’Exil is launching a project which aims to unify MLR standards around the Istanbul Protocol and to have authorities promote it. 8 Directive 2011/95/EU on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted (recast), entered into force 21 December 2013. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:337:0009:0026:en:PDF 25 The Berlin Network for Particularly Vulnerable Refugees. Available at: http:// www.migrationsdienste.org/projekte/abgeschlossene-projekte/bns2.html 9 Ibid. 10 11 Ibid. Regulation (EU) No 603/2013 on the establishment of ‘EURODAC’ for the comparison of fingerprints for the effective application of Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person and on requests for the comparison with EURODAC data by Member States’ law enforcement authorities and Europol for law enforcement purposes, and amending Regulation (EU) No 1077/2011 establishing a European Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (recast), entered into force 26 June 2013. Available at http://eur-lex.europa.eu/ legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R0603&from=EN 26 Cordelia Foundation, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, Foundation for Access to Rights, & Assistance Centre for Torture Survivors., 2016. From Torture to Detention: Access of Torture Survivors and Traumatised Asylum-Seekers to Rights and Care in Detention. 12 ECRE, Asylum Information Database, Country Report: Hungary, 4th Update, November 2015. Available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/ report-download/aida_hu_update.iv_.pdf 13 ECRE, Asylum Information Database, Country Report: Hungary, 4th Update, November 2015. Available at: http://www.asylumineurope.org/sites/default/files/ report-download/aida_hu_update.iv_.pdf 14 Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national or a stateless person (recast), entered into force 26 June 2013. Available at http:// eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2013:180:0031:0059:EN:PDF 27 CIR/Vi.To, Maieutics “Elaborating a common interdisciplinary working methodology (legal-psychological) to guarantee the recognition of the proper international status to torture victims and violence”, December 2012, available at: http://bit. ly/1Gb1PCq, 55-57. 15 Article 24 of the Asylum Procedures Directive and Article 22 of the Reception Conditions Directive 28 16 Ibid. Amnesty International Report 2012. The State of the World’s Human Rights. Available at: https://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/air12-report-english.pdf 17 29 page 46 Article 22(4) of the Reception Conditions Directive